John Shavteli

Holy Venerable John Shavteli, bishop of Gaenati, was a notable Georgian poet, philosopher and rhetorician of the twelfth (or thirteenth) century. In his youth he received a perfect education at the Gelati Academy (West Georgia), where he studied the writings of the holy fathers, ancient and Arab history, philosophy and literature. Later he received monasticism and for many years struggled in a secluded cell at the famous cave monastery of Vardzia (in the south of Georgia). Here, adding labours to labours, he led the life of a strict ascetic, giving himself constantly to prayerful reflections on the Creator, on creation and the purpose of man, and penetrating deeply into the meaning of Holy Scripture. In his unceasing struggle he reached a high spiritual perfection and received a wonderful gift of the word, which was revealed in his poetic work.

Between 1210 and 1214, at the Vardzia monastery, Venerable John wrote a notable ode, "Abdul-⁠Messiah" ("The Servant of Christ"), in which he praised the image of the Christian faithful to the canons of the Holy Orthodox Church. In the ode he calls himself a "wanderer" and a "servant of Christ". Many strophes of prayer are devoted to the holy pious king of Georgia David IV the Builder († 1125, commemorated on 26 January) and the holy pious queen Tamar the Great († 1212, commemorated on 1 May and on the Sunday of the Myrrh-⁠bearers). Shota Rustaveli, whose literary predecessor was John Shavteli, praised Shavteli's resounding strophes on Abdul-⁠Messiah. The theological significance of the ode is seen above all in the strophes where the poet raises prayers in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, gives thanks to the Almighty Creator and the Good Provider, who gave people salvation in Christ. Speaking of the creation ordered by God, Venerable John writes according to the works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite on the heavenly and ecclesiastical hierarchy.

In another work, "Hymns of the Mother of God of Vardzia", Venerable John Shavteli sang of the historic battle of Basiani (1204), in which the popular army of Georgia, setting out from the Vardzia monastery, defeated a Muslim army of four hundred thousand led by the sultan Rukn ad-⁠Din. Thanks to this victory Georgia kept its independence and remained a bulwark of Orthodoxy in the Middle East, which also helped strengthen Byzantium, of the same faith. Venerable John Shavteli fell asleep in deep old age. His memory has been honoured from of old by the Church of Georgia.

His commemoration falls on 14 April and on 22 June, according to the Georgian calendar, and the page notes that he is not included in the present calendar of the Russian Church.